The Present Disclosure relates, generally, to a connector, and, more particularly, to a structure of a flexible brace provided on a male housing for a connector of a type in which a male housing is inserted into a female housing.
In general, with connectors of the type in which a male housing is inserted into a female housing, a flexible brace having a latching block is provided. An example of this is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-203717, the content of which is fully incorporated in its entirety herein. The flexible brace extends from the main body of the male housing in the insertion direction with the ability to flexibly deform in the direction to be closer to the main body. The latching block formed on the flexible brace uses the elastic recovery force to fit into a latching hole formed in the female housing.
In recent years, in conjunction with the miniaturization of electronic devices, a connector with a low height to be used thereby has been in demand. However, when simply lowering the height of a conventional connector as given above, there is the risk of not being able to obtain a sufficient elastic recovery force in the flexible brace.
On the other hand, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. S61-063782, the content of which is also incorporated herein in its entirety, a connector is disclosed in which the flexible brace is connected to the main body at the front side and the rear side of the insertion direction. However, the connecting portion at the rear side is really nothing more than an auxiliary provision, the connecting portion at the rear side is narrower than the connecting portion of the front side, and the elastic recovery force in effect in the latching block is smaller at the connecting portion at the rear side. In this case, because the connecting portion at the front side has a larger elastic recovery force in effect in the latching block, a large insertion resistance occurs when inserting the male housing into the female housing as the flexible bridge contacts against the edge of the female housing.